Wheelman: A game you don’t care about… but probably should

A game made by Midway is nothing to get excited about. And yet Wheelman has a …

The game is being developed by the bankrupt Midway, which hasn't released an exciting game since Mortal Kombat II in 1993. It's a Grand Theft Auto knock-off, which usually means you can't expect much. To make matters worse, it's based on a delayed movie by the same name staring Vin Diesel, and games based on movies are hardly a good thing.

The negative associations are all here, and from the sound of it, you'd be wise to keep this one well off your gaming radar.

And yet here I am. Playing the latest preview build of Wheelman to the very end—at will, even. It's hard to put the controller down. "Is this possible? Could it be? Are you sure this game isn't made by someone other than Midway?" I ask myself.

Yes and no.

Consider the source

Wheelman is being co-developed by Tigon, the same production studio that created The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. That game, also starring Diesel (who founded Tigon in 2002), was an unexpected hit on Xbox when it was released in 2004. Unlike the movie of the same name, critics praised Escape from Butcher Bay for its engrossing first-person action and showered it with review scores in the 90th percentile. Although young, the production studio has some history.

But Tigon doesn't handle coding duties for Wheelman. That's being done by Midway Newcastle, the company's only studio outside of the US. Midway acquired the Newcastle office, formerly known as Pitbull Syndicate, in 2005. I'm convinced the distance from Midway's embattled American headquarters only plays in the game's favor. And it's an important point. Even though Wheelman will carry Midway's disreputable name upon release, it was developed in connection with a proven production company, and programmed overseas—far, far away from the crumbling base camp.

What makes it special

"A lot of people don't know what to expect from Wheelman, but invariably they walk away wowed by the vehicle combat," says designer Mark Thompson. "The focus on vehicles as weapons is truly something unique."

Vehicular combat, a fancy term Midway uses to describe how Jason Bourne might drive a car, is the heart and soul of the game. It sorta feels like the first time you plowed through pedestrians on a sidewalk playing Grand Theft Auto 3, only it's a lot more lasting and meaningful, but just as destructive.

For example, say the Polic�a (the game is set in Barcelona) sound their screaming sirens and attempt to pull you over for speeding or reckless driving—take your pick. They approach you from the right, and instead of eluding them or shooting out their tires (which you have the option of doing), you flick your right analog stick in the desired direction to throw your steering wheel and ram their port side. This shoves them to the side and is very satisfying.

You do it again, sideswiping their car almost two lanes to your immediate right. Hit 'em three successive times and boom! Your opponent is blown into oblivion. Gas leaks are such a pain.

"Finishing Moves are an example of how we increased the depth of the combat," Thompson says. "Attacking vehicles with melee attacks causes them to enter a finishing state. A vehicle could have 50 percent health remaining, but if you chain together a combo, one solid hit in the finishing state can destroy an enemy vehicle, with the destruction highlighted in glorious slow motion."

And the effect looks gooooooood. Whether car, motorcycle, truck, or scooter, car-ram "fatalities" will launch your challengers into orbit. This can be done at any time, to either side or in front of you, and to any movable object. I often got sidetracked on missions, the move is so addicting.

unreal3 engine issues as always. it's not a good engine for this type of thing.

also you have to use 50 buttons at once. it's too much imo. motorcyclists come next to you and you smash them with a 2000 lb car or whatever and they just bounce and keep going. wtf? shooting and driving is a pain in the ass as well. if it were just driving and using the car it would have been a lot better. like driver i guess. they should just remake driver for the hd systems.

I swear, Vin Diesel is living every geek's dream. "Hey look, I'm a super-famous action star that makes popular video games about himself, has sex with any woman I want to and plays D&D without anyone daring to give me shit about it. Also, I made sci-fi action movies just because I like sci-fi that much."

Must be a good life.

Yah, if this thing is even remotely as fun as Carmageddon, I'm in. Blake, is there anyone there that can comment on whether or not this is playable with the 360 race wheel? I would imagine not, but I like to check.

I found a few wonky things going on when driving. For example, I slammed a police car into wall, and the cop driving it popped right out. Standing straight up, no rag doll rolling or anything. Looked REALLY cheap and strange.

The bullet time tricks take some getting used.

But, it was a fun game. Great presentation, IMO. Looking foward to it.

And, it may be a good thing that the game is coming out before the movie. Most movie games are just poor rushed cash grabs.

I gave the demo a try only because of this article. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was. The melee car combat is a great idea. And Wheelman's driving model is frenetic and comparative to Burnout's. The only thing was how many buttons you'll find yourself having to push during the action. RT for the gas, LT to drift, RB to lock on, LB to fire, LS to steer and, sometimes, all at the same time. I usually just have my pointer finger for the triggers and buttons. For Wheelman I need them for the buttons exclusively and middle finger for the triggers. It takes some coordination.This game is a good find.

@moritz-s: Haha, nice catch there! When I read that sentence I was like "huh, that can't be right", but then I thought I was probably wrong. It's nice to be vindicated.

"The game doesn't have the same level of polish or style as one would expect from Rockstar Games either."Can't honestly comment on the amount of polish in the original 360 release but I can comment on the "polish" shown in the PC release. That is to say none whatsoever. As much as I enjoyed GTA4's gameplay and story, I hated the bugs. Eventually it got bad enough that I just stopped playing and I don't think I'll be giving Rockstar any more of my money.

This game definitely peaked my curiosity though I'm gonna wait for reviews before considering getting it.